


Daughters After the Revolution

by ladyjax



Category: Jeremiah (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Female Character of Color, Found Family, Post-Series, f/f - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: Starting again when the world is new.
Relationships: Theo Coleridge/Erin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Daughters After the Revolution

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eirenical (chibi1723)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi1723/gifts).



> eirenical, your prompts about Erin and Theo got me thinking and this is the result. There's the seeds of something else in here that I might come back to, but this is one way their future might begin. Thank you for the opportunity to revisit an old favorite. I hope you enjoy it!

Marcus looked around at the assembled Alliance delegates and held up a hand for quiet. 

“We’ve gone ‘round about this as much as we can,” he said, raising his voice until he had everyone’s attention. “Now it’s time to make a decision.”

The voices rose up again until Carol Swoboda from Ridgecrest called out, “Hey, shut it! We’ve all had a chance to say our piece. And we all said that we’d come back in a month and make a final decision.” She put gloved fists on her hips, her short, stout stature a counterpoint to the cherubic face she presented to the world. “You know as well as I do that we would have bitched up a storm if Marcus had just gone ahead and said yes. So, now’s the time. We gonna do this thing or not?”

There was slight rumbling but the Alliance delegates finally settled down. “Okay,” Marcus said firmly. “Let’s try this again. We have two issues before us: accepting the invitation to establish formal relations with the Pacific Confederation. And then choosing volunteers who’d be willing to act as representatives of the Western Alliance. It’ll be an even exchange. We send a delegation, ambassadors, if you will. The Confederation will do the same.”

He nodded to the note taker then said, “How many in favor of working with the Confederation?”

From her spot on the catwalk, Erin watched as nearly every hand in the room went up in favor of the proposal. She took note of who was reluctant but it wasn’t a particular concern. This being Marcus’ last term as the head of the alliance, he was determined to wrap everything up in a neat bow before stepping aside and getting this last big piece of business done would be his final act.

“Alright, majority vote rules. We’ll tell the Confederation it’s a go.” Marcus clapped his hands together. “Now for the second part. Who wants to be an ambassador?”

Erin made her escape when everyone started to talk at once. She stopped by her rooms, grabbed her jacket and side arm, then headed to the vehicle bay. 

“Going out?” Jimmy asked as he wiped his hands on an already grimy shop towel. As head of the transportation division, he and his crew kept Thunder Mountain’s vehicles in good working condition, in addition to keeping track of what went in and out of the mountain. 

“Yeah, I am.” Erin replied, signing off in the transport logs. “Can I take the jeep? It’s only going to be a few hours. I’ll be back before dark.”

Jimmy stuck the rag in his back pocket, walked over to the key peg board, and found the correct set to give to her. “Appreciate that. You be careful now.”

Erin slid behind the wheel and gave him a rueful smile. “Aren’t I always?” 

**

An overcast sky greeted Erin as she passed through the gates and headed down the road. A slight nip in the air meant fall was fast approaching, with winter not too far behind.

A light wind whipped a tendril of hair across her forehead and Erin swept it out of the way. Was it only a few years ago that she’d have never ventured outside without an escort? She’d come from the chaos of the world and sheltered in the heart of a stronghold. Being outside now, after everything, was a gift.

An hour later saw her pulling up to the old mansion tucked well away from prying eyes. She’d barely reached the front door when it opened and Edith beckoned her inside. Erin’s eyes always lingered on the swaths of grey in the tendrils of the other woman’s hair that escaped from beneath her maroon head covering. There were old men, Erin thought darkly, where were all the old women?

“Welcome back. I take it you’re here to take Theo and Aminah back with you?” Edith asked.

“I am,” Erin said. She slipped her hands into her pockets and rocked on her heels. “Are they around?”

Edith pointed towards the back of the house. “You might try the backyard.”

“Thanks.”

The sound of high pitched laughter acted as a guide to a wide back lawn where small packs of children ran about, some with a ball while others engaged in what looked like an elaborate game of tag.

“I still haven’t figured out what exactly it is they’re playing.”

Erin turned and smiled as Theo sauntered up. The knife sheath strapped to her leg was empty which was no surprise given that she had to give it up every time she visited. When Theo came to stay in her last stages of pregnancy, Edith insisted on locking her gun and knives away. “For the good of the children,” she had said then. 

Erin had quickly slapped her hand over Theo’s mouth lest she curse the woman to hell and gone. She didn’t miss the way Edith’s lips twitched as though trying not to smile.

Theo’s initial animosity eventually gave way to a truce of sorts: when Aminah began to display many of the same talents as the other children, Edith recommended that she stay at the school during the week and Friday until Sunday either at the mountain or somewhere else with Theo and Erin. Somewhere else being a small house at the edge of Clairefield where the two women slowly worked out the parameters of their relationship. 

Theo had transformed herself from Clairefield's warlord and into a reliable intelligence gatherer. “Nobody’s gonna notice if I’m asking questions,” she’d said at the time she’d pitched it to Marcus. “Who’d believe loud-mouthed little ol' was looking to find out their dirt?” 

“I take it Marcus told them they had to come to a decision about those Pacifica people,” she remarked.

“They’re voted yes on opening a dialogue,” Erin replied. “Marcus asked for volunteers for representatives.”

“Let me guess, the rest of the government wasn’t exactly fallin’ over itself to volunteer to go.” Theo shook her head with a derisive snort. “Ain’t that just the way.”

“They were having a discussion.” 

Aminah had caught the ball and was holding it above her head, stubby legs shaking a little as she held her balance. Her toothy grin caught at Erin’s heart and she gave a small wave. The ball went flying when Aminah threw it. When it bounced off another kid’s head, the pack of children chased it like wolves on a rabbit.

“Think anyone’s going to be real surprised when we pack up and go?”

Erin’s head whipped around. Theo was still watching the kids. “I hadn’t thought you’d want to,” she said cautiously. "We hadn't really talked much about it."

“We hadn’t talked about it, no. But we should. This world,” Theo declared, “It’s the beginning, but nothing is gonna grow unless we plant ourselves somewhere else.”

“That’s pretty...poetic,” Erin said tentatively. Theo laughed.

“You think I’m just hanging out here with these kids? The sisters got a library here and I’ve been brushing up on my own learning. Way more fun than those field manuals in the Mountain.” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “There’s a whole bunch of crazy-assed self help books in there. I read a few.”

“We’ll have to make plans, figure out if we can actually make the trip before winter sets in. Erin ticked the points off her fingers. "Communications, supplies. There’s a lot.”

One slim brown hand reached out to catch hers and Theo laced their fingers together. “You plan. I’ll get on some of the other stuff we need. When we’ve got that together, we’ll tell Marcus. I bet you no one is gonna make that big a deal if we say we’ll take it on.”

“And if they do?”

Theo smiled wolfishly. “Then fuck ‘em.”

**  
They left the mountain on a rain soaked Monday morning two months later, crossing the bridge and stopping on the other side, letting the truck’s engine idle. The rest of their small convoy was waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain, ready to get on the road. Theo reached into the back seat to check Aminah; the toddler was still sleeping, bundled into her seat in a thick wool blanket, knit cap on her head. When she turned back around, she looked at Erin. The other woman's hands were tight on the steering wheel and she was staring straight ahead.

Theo nudged her thigh to get her attention. “Hey, if you don’t wanna to do this, say the word. We don’t have to go back to the mountain. Hell, we can go just about anywhere.”

Erin reached up and adjusted the rear view mirror. Behind her, the gate was closed, the mountain once more impenetrable. “It’s okay.” She turned to Theo and leaned in for a kiss. “Let’s get going.”

Then she put the truck in gear and stepped on the gas, leaving the mountain behind them.


End file.
